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BEI Resources continues to expand the catalog of luciferase-expressing parasitic protists. Recent additions include Leishmania mexicana, strain MNYC/BZ/62/M379 transfected with the luciferase gene from the sea pansy Renilla reniformis (NR-51210) and Trypanosoma cruzi, strain CL Brener expressing the thermostable red-shifted luciferase gene mutant, PpyRE9 (NR-49161). These models allow the high-throughput screening of large numbers of candidate compounds during infection in vitro and the possibility of tracking parasite distribution in vivo in laboratory mice. The expression of red-shifted luciferase in T. cruzi, in particular, results in a reporter system that is more sensitive than other bioluminescence systems previously reported. The availability of these new transgenic strains provides the researcher rapid quantification of parasite growth and simplification of the methodology for scoring inhibitor assays.
Reference:
Lewis, M.D., et al. “A New Experimental Model for Assessing Drug Efficacy Against Trypanosoma cruzi Infection Based on Highly Sensitive in vivo Imaging.” J. Biomol. Screen. 20 (2015): 36-43. PubMed: 25296657.
Image: Trypanosoma cruzi CL Brener PpyRE9 (NR-49161) epimastigotes stained with GIEMSA (BEI Resources)
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